Category Archives: computer tips

SOLUTION: Getting Broadcom Crystal HD decoder to work in Windows 7

NOTE: this is a first draft of this post, more info and some screenshots to be added. After installing the Broadcom card and drivers I had a difficult time getting MKV x264 video files to play. Solution: Disable all “internal filters” Set external filter to Broadcom Applies to: GOM Player, Media Player Classic Home Cinema Basic info to the Broadcom card itself: XBMC & Broadcom Bring 1080p Decode Upgrade to ill-equipped netbooks, nettops, Apple TVs http://www.anandtech.com/show/2898In one of my last

Upgrading/replacing a parity drive in unRAID

I’m preparing to upgrade my 2TB WD Green parity drive to a 2TB WD Black parity drive on my unRAID system. I did a lot of searching for resources on this topic and while there are some great forums posts out there, they are sometimes hard to find. So here is a consolidated list of useful links for parity drive replacement: NOTE: many thanks to all the helpful and supportive unRAID users out there, the credit for all of this

SOLUTION: Force Firefox 3 to autofill username and password!

NOTE: this technique applies to FireFox 3, not later versions. As Peter noted in the comments, later versions of FireFox do not contain the applicable .js files. Q. Some websites (like Chase, Gmail, WordPress) won’t autofill my login credentials even though I saved them with FireFox 3. What’s up with that?! A. Good question. Sites can specify autocomplete=”off” to prevent browsers from filling in login info. This  is what is causing your  problem, though it is meant to be a

Pairing Saitek A-250 bluetooth speakers with iPhone/iPod touch

Today I paired my old Saitek wireless speakers with my relatively new iPod touch.  I’d paired the Saitek to a PC before, and the iPod to a different wireless speaker, but this was my first time with iPod + Saitek. Here are two links that were helpful to me, one on iPhone/iPod Touch bluetooth and one on the Saitek (and how to pair). NOTE: these instructions are for the iPhone’s and iPod touch models that have built in bluetooth. Hands

Alienware M11x Netbook Specs

Photo of ports and basic features (scroll down for full specs) Updated: 2010.Feb.2nd with SIM card info and revised port list. Full specifications: OS: Windows 7 Processor: Intel® Pentium® Dual Core – SU4100 1.3Ghz 2MB Cache – 800 MHz FSB [base model] Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor – SU7300 – 1.3Ghz 3MB Cache – 800 MHz FSB [upgrade] Chipset: Mobile Intel® GS45 Express Chipset Memory: DDR3 1066 MHz SODIMMs – 2Gb min and 8Gb max (thus 2 SODIMM slots) Hard

Dell M4400 display models

I recently ordered two Dell Precision M4400 laptops. Upon receipt of the laptops I was slightly surprised that there were different panels in each laptop: First order: X864C Module, Liquid Crystal Display 15.4WX+, WLED, Lg Philips Lcd Maybach/Avia Second order: U609C Module, Liquid Crystal Display 15.4WX+, WLED, Au Optronics Corp, Maybach/Avia Thankfully both are matte anti-glare displays and the quality is comparable :-).

Delete EISA Hidden Recovery or Diagnostic Partition? [solved]

Q. I have a hard drive from an IBM thinkpad and I can’t get one of the partitions deleted, can you help? A. This is how I deleted one on Windows XP, this includes some steps showing different parameters and help for the diskpart utility: Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600] (C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp. C:\Documents and Settings\User>diskpart Microsoft DiskPart version 5.1.3565 Copyright (C) 1999-2003 Microsoft Corporation. On computer: M4400 DISKPART> list Microsoft DiskPart version 5.1.3565 DISK        – Prints out